Countdown Amageddon (The Spiral Slayers Book 2)

by Rusty Williamson

  Adamarus held up both hands and interrupted, “I’m getting to that, Patrick.” He turned back to the avatar, “Bugs, when did the Loud know that the Blackships were targeting stars with intelligent civilizations?”

  “We became sure when it left our star and instead of heading directly for the galactic center, it headed here. If it had headed for the galactic center, it would have missed your star system by thirty-four light years.”

  Adamarus nodded. “And before it headed for us, before it entered your star system, when you were only watching these Blackships in other galaxies, what did you think?”

  “We were not sure why the Blackships destroyed the star systems they did.”

  “And, when your planet concluded that what approached it was a Blackship, what did they believe was going to happen?”

  “We assumed that the black hole would slow down and pass our star close enough to destabilize it and cause it to explode.”

  The room erupted—everyone started talking at once. Adamarus knew why. Half a year before, when the Loud ships had returned early and Bugs had met with them to explain about the destruction of their star system, it had told them that analysis of the Tachyon scans had shown that the black hole had disappeared and a large ship had attacked the planet and then their star. When asked what kind of defense their planet had likely prepared against the Blackship, Bugs had said none because any alien advanced enough to use a black hole for a power source would be too advanced to be defeated. They had stared in disbelief at the short robot. Now they realized for the first time that the Loud had had no idea that a ship would emerge…a ship that could be opposed. And, no one would mount an armed defense against a black hole. It would be like an armed defense against a 100-foot tidal wave.

  President Wicker brought the meeting to order again then asked Bugs, “So, you did not know that a ship would emerge from the black hole or that the Blackship was targeting civilized systems until after it attacked you?”

  “No. How could we?” Bugs replied.

  Adamarus spoke up, “So think about it…the only way that we know an armed defense has any chance at all is because we have the data from the attack on the Loud system.”

  Everyone stared at him and Adamarus could see that they were not catching on. He continued, “The odds of a situation like ours…of there being two stars with intelligent civilizations close enough together in both space and time and also close enough in line with the Spiral Slayers course to the galaxy’s center is…well, those odds are far worse than eight quintillion to one. It could never ever happen.”

  The President looked at Adamarus straining to understand. “But…what does that matter? It did happen here.”

  Adamarus sighed, “Yes, it did happen here but we can be pretty damn sure that it’s never happened before. Every star the Blackships have visited knew only what the Loud knew—that a black hole was going to enter their system. No one would prepare an armed defense against a black hole. And that means that,” Adamarus faced the gathering, “the Spiral Slayers have never before faced an armed defense.” He could feel the shock rolling across the conference room.

  He continued, “At least not a massive defense prepared well beforehand—like the one we’ll be greeting them with. That’s why adaptability is important and, since…hell, almost the dawn of time,” he said incredulously, “we can look back and see that they have not exhibited a single sign of adaptability.”

  “Never faced an armed defense,” Wicker muttered.

  “That’s unbelievable,” Leewood said.

  However, the shock level in the room was about to spike even higher. Bugs had repeatedly insisted that they had no chance against the Spiral Slayers—no chance at all. No one thought the alien would ever budge from this.

  Now the five-foot robot stood and faced Maximus. “That is a very good observation, Adamarus,” the robot said. It turned to the gathering “Given this, we would have a slight chance of surviving the Spiral Slayers. The possibility is very small …nevertheless, we now have some chance.”

  ---

  Ninety million miles away on the human’s home world of Amular, the teleconferencing screen faded and went dark. The side of President Wicker’s mouth twitched and he felt the pain where he’d bitten his tongue and from the cut on his swollen left lip—it had required two stitches.

  He barked another humorless laugh—rough days were the norm for him but rarely did they include physical injuries. He also sported a bruised and swollen right eye. In fact, he had bruises all over him and felt like a train wreck.

  Well, his friend Thornton had been a strong man, physically anyway. Even after writing the suicide note and kicking the chair out from under himself, Thornton had fought—or more probably, it was just spasms. Whichever, it had beaten the hell out of President James Olson Wicker as he tried to hold on to and lift Thornton’s thrashing body to keep the cord from strangling him. Thornton had tied the electrical cord to the ceiling fan then looped it around his neck.

  However, how do you stop a man from hanging himself after he’s already falling? The President certainly had no experience—such a thing was certainly not in his job description.

  He’d lost the battle. His friend and…his Secretary of Defense had knocked him away, the cord had jerked and there’d been a distinct crack. Wicker had toppled from the chair he had been standing on and had fallen to the floor. When he looked up, Thornton was hanging there, no longer fighting, just swinging back and forth, his neck elongated grotesquely. Wicker had remained sitting on the floor not even realizing that tears were flowing down his face.

  That’s how they had found the President of the Planet Amular and the Iceis Star System—sitting on the floor crying, his Secretary of Defense dead and dangling above him. That was just one hour after the meeting.

  That had rather said it all, hadn’t it—or at least one would have thought.

  Yet that hadn’t been all. One day later, their top scientist, Dr. Van Loader, had taken his life, though in a much more spectacular fashion.

  In front of a full session of Amular’s First Council of War—almost 200 of Amular’s top government, military and scientific people—Dr. Van Loader had quite expertly skydived from the 1,000-foot atrium ceiling, screaming about God and the end of everything as he skillfully aimed himself at the center of the main conference table.

  He had not been wearing a parachute.

  Dr. Van Loader had hit the thick wooden conference table and, amidst a shower of blood and gore, the shredded bag of flesh and broken bones had jetted across then off the massive table. En route, what had been left of their top scientist, hit two of the main players sitting at the conference table—they simply vanished. Then they and Van Loader had slammed into two aides sitting beyond and then the whole lot had hit the back wall and been propelled upward and into the assembly area, raining down on the unlucky attendees. Dr. Van Loader had taken with him the leaders of both of Amular’s primary shipyards…both killed in an instant.

  President Wicker shut down the live feed from the orbital Tachyon scope and pressed a button, causing the curtains to open. He got up and walked to the window and there he stared unseeing at the sprawling city of Axes.

  They had not changed the way they do things…shown no signs of adaptability…they have never before faced an armed defense, he thought. Did it really mean anything? How could they use that information? He closed his eyes.

  No answers came.

  ---

  Three miles away, President Wicker’s head came into focus in the eight-inch reflecting telescope. With great precision, the joystick controller moved the scope’s crosshairs across his face until they were centered on his cheek.

  A button was pressed.

  Boom!

  Even with the most advanced sound suppressor available, the blast was deafening. The sound echoed into the distance. At the same time, the computer-controlled gun slid back on its hydraulic rail, absorbing the recoil and ejected the spent shell then it slid b
ack into place, loading the next round.

  Clank, clank.

  In what amounted to an astronomical telescope with cross hairs, the bullet came briefly into view as it sped the three miles to its target. Then President Wicker’s face was replaced by an expanding red mist.

  The scope moved to the right, finding Adamarus’ face…Boom...the face vanished replaced by the red mist…then Admiral Leewood…then finally Dr. Lorraine Harrington.

  Boom! Clank, clank. Boom! Clank, clank.

  Clouds of red mist…

  When the last echo had died away, a tall lanky man removed himself from the cushioned seat attached to the large gun and stepped from the wooden shed that served as a shelter from the blazing orange sun. His name was Aaron Towers. With both hands, he swatted his pants, creating a cloud of dust then he removed a canteen and took a long drink. After wiping his mouth, he got into an old truck, started the engine and drove off across the barren landscape.

  Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the targets. The heavy table was covered with red pulp and black watermelon seeds and, surrounded by a cloud of buzzing flies. Aaron got out, walked around to the back of the truck and, from a cooler, removed four more head-sized watermelons. Wading through the flies, he carefully placed the green melons on the wet sticky table, spacing them evenly apart. Returning to the truck, he removed four more life-size pictures of heads from a file folder: President Wicker, Admiral Adamarus Maximus, Admiral Patrick Leewood and Dr. Lorraine Harrington. After pinning the pictures to the melons, he drove back to the shed to continue testing his new toy.

  ---

  The Hideaway Shipyards were in a stationary orbit on the dark side of Cinder, a planetoid that was the closest orbiting body to Amular’s orange dwarf sun Iceis. The small world was tidal locked so one side always faced the sun.

  The shipyard contained five docks, each a large asteroid roughly four miles high and one-mile round. Each had a large hole in its center. This was where the ship construction was done. They’d been designed and assembled to build only one kind of ship—the Leviathan Class Battleships.

  Admiral Adamarus Maximus finished packing then left his cabin and took the lift up to deck one. He made his way to hanger 4-U and entered. The large hanger had been converted into a club that served drinks and food, and had pool tables and other games. Everyone called it the ‘one-for-you’.

  Adamarus looked around. A couple dozen people were scattered around the club. He really didn’t feel like company right now. He spotted some empty seats at the bar beside a mirrored column that blocked the people seated to the right of it. To the left were only empty seats. Perfect. He made his way there, sat down and ordered a drink.

  One wall contained a floor to ceiling window and Adamarus noticed that it had been cleaned—last time he’d been there he could barely see through it. Now it showed one of the other docks floating in the distance and, beyond this, the pitch-black surface of Cinder stretched out to the horizon where millions of tiny orange specks constantly flew upward.

  He heard her voice and, despite himself, he felt excitement surge through him. He turned in his seat and saw her. Evelyn had been sitting in a booth with some other people. They were leaving and she had stood up with them but was still holding her half-empty drink.

  Evelyn was an incredibly beautiful woman—one of those that turned every head. She had a round face with rich full lips, a perfect little nose, stunning brown eyes and a high forehead. She was of medium height and had a perfect figure.

  With a shock, he realized that it was not that he hadn’t wanted company but rather that he had been subconsciously hoping to bump into her and then have her all to himself.

  She saw him and came over.

  Married or not, you couldn’t help being drawn to her. In this case, they were both married and their encounters had been getting flirtier and bolder and coming closer and closer to crossing a line that Adamarus knew he didn’t really want to cross, but…it was as if he couldn’t help himself.

  He stood to greet her and they hugged each other as was customary. She hugged him a lot tighter than was common, pressing herself hard against him and she held the hug a little longer than necessary. He could tell that she was a little tipsy—something he had not seen before.

  They parted and her face was a little flushed, her smile a little too big. She placed her hands on each of Adamarus’ hips massaging them and pulling him toward her. She came right back in again, pressing against him but this time tiptoeing and brushing his cheek with hers. She whispered in his ear, “I wanted to thank you for getting permission to brief me on what the Loud had revealed. I really appreciated that.” She started to back away but then came back into him again, her hot breath blew into his ear then she whispered, “So…now I guess I owe you one.” She said it in a way that shook him. She backed away, her eyes locked with his.

  Adamarus was very uncomfortable, not because he didn't like what she was doing but because he did. He motioned to the seat next to him to get her to sit. He didn’t trust himself standing this close to her. “Can I buy you a drink?”

  “Absolutely,” she downed the rest of her drink and set it down.

  He motioned to the bartender.

  Evelyn’s beautiful eyes were boldly locked on his the entire time. She placed her hand on his and, with her foot, stroked him behind his ankle. “I was really hoping to bump into you.”

  More alarms went off. Time to apply the brakes. As a way to bring up their married status, he asked about her husband. “Where’s Brandon?” However, it was the wrong thing to ask.

  She looked down and licked her lips, “He’s doing some work over at dock three.” Her eyes came up, giving him a meaningful look, “He’ll be several hours.” She bit her lip, “So...got anything going on right now?”

  Oh shit, Adamarus thought. That had not worked as planned. “I'm afraid I need to get packed,” he lied.

  “Need help?” she smiled, rubbing his arm with both hands now.

  Enough, he thought. “Evelyn, you’re making it very hard on me.” He continued looking at her for a moment, then he thought about what he’d just said. His whole face involuntarily cringed and he looked off to the side. “I...”

  Evelyn caught it. Her eyes went wide, her hands covered her mouth to muffle her squeal and then she started laughing uncontrollably.

  Adamarus’ face turned bright red and neither of them could stop laughing. Finally, Adamarus stopped long enough to say, “Unfortunate choice of words, sorry,” and they started laughing all over again.

  Eventually Adamarus held up a finger to get her attention, then touched her on the nose and said, “No,” as forcefully as he could. Then, not believing what he was doing, not wanting to do what he was doing, he turned and forced himself to walk away. Regardless of what he had originally hoped for, he couldn’t let this happen.

  ---

  Evelyn watched Adamarus go, a hollow feeling forming inside her. He turned around to say hello to someone and she thought, Damn, he’s so...under my skin...and this whole thing is screwed, screwed, screwed. What was wrong with her?

  She had made up her mind when she’d seen him at the bar, to go over and seduce him right then and there—just get it over with. However, she had failed. She had not considered that outcome. Now she had made an idiot of herself, a fool of her husband Brandon, and she had accomplished nothing.

  Who are you kidding, she thought, screwing him would not ‘put an end to it’—it’d only make it worse. She watched him walk out and it was everything she could do not to run after him. God, and make a total slut of yourself. She turned and took a long drink.

  Did she really want to do this? The sounds of the air passing though vents, glasses being set down and people talking merged. She had been staring at the door he had left through but now her eyes lost focus and drifted as the answers to all her questions came to her in a single three letter word. “Yes,” she said, her misery complete…

  …or so she thought.

&n
bsp; She heard someone clear their throat and looked to the right. From behind the mirrored column dividing the bar, Dr. Lorraine Harrington peaked out. Evelyn just closed her eyes. Harrington had been warning her off Adamarus since Evelyn had first met him. Now she was busted…again. Shit.

  She opened her eyes. Harrington did not look happy at all. The tall artificial intelligence guru was Evelyn's friend but Harrington had also become good friends with Adamarus’ wife, Grace.

  Harrington was tall, thin and tanned, with full breasts just the right size for her height and build. Her high cheek-boned face and full lips were stunning—even when she was angry. The long brown hair, normally pulled back in a bun, hung down around her shoulders today and, right now, her green eyes flashed with outrage.

  Evelyn watched her friend sit down beside her thinking, this is just what I need. “How long have you been there?” she asked, turning forward and looking straight ahead.

  Harrington steeped her fingers and exerted control. “I caught the whole dog and pony show. I wanted to see what Adamarus would do and he made me proud, which is a whole lot more than I can say for my little slut-nick friend.” She leaned forward, “What in the hell is wrong with you? He’s been married for, I don’t know, must be close to thirty years. They have a young kid, for God’s sake—and what about Brandon?”

  Evelyn just looked down. “Lorie, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m...out of control. I don’t know what to do.”

  Harrington rolled her eyes, “Have you tried…” her hands twirled around, “I don’t know…a cold shower?”

  ---

  Later that evening, Admiral Patrick Tanner Leewood kissed Harrington then rolled off her and they both lay there letting the sweat on their skin dry. They’d been lovers for three months now and there was no question in either one’s mind that this was serious. It was a relationship that had come together over their time working together. Over the years, neither had ever hit on the other and neither could say exactly when they had become a couple but still, somehow it had just happened.